Fastball

MLB Teams on Pace to Make History in 2024 with Regards to This Interesting Stat

Pitching has never been better than it is right now and MLB offenses are collectively adjusting at a historic pace.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a double during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on July 10.
Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) hits a double during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on July 10. / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
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Major League Baseball offenses are on pace to make history in 2024 in this interesting stat, according to @OptaSTATS:

This season, the first-pitch swing percentage across all MLB is 31.8%.

That would be the highest MLB-wide first-pitch swing percentage over a single season since 1990 (31.9%).

Given that pitching has never been better than it is right now, this seems like a collective new approach from offenses. While the value used to be in getting into deep counts so you could get to a team's bullpen, now the best course of strategy is to apparently try to attack pitches early. With as good as pitching as, you may never get a better pitch than the first one in an at-bat.

All that said, even though a player swings at the first pitch, it doesn't mean that they are guaranteed success. With strikeouts also at an all-time high, players are swinging-and-missing a ton and players foul off these pitches a lot to get behind in the count.

In a game of never-ending cat-and-mouse, opposing pitchers have probably also picked up on this strategy. As a result, pitchers (anecdotally speaking) seem to be throwing more breaking balls than ever before. By throwing more offspeed pitches earlier in counts, they can neutralize offensive aggressiveness and have hitters get themselves out.

After a full four days off for the All-Star break, nearly all teams are back in action on Friday night to start the second half of the season. The biggest games on the schedule are the Mariners and Astros in an AL West battle, and the Red Sox visiting the Dodgers.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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